>Emma said:
>I really enjoyed "Wildwood dancing", both for the fairytales but
also the
>Translyvania setting. I thought it was really well done.
Emma, that's exactly what I liked!
And I think, thanks to Isobelle Carmody, I'm also partial to first
person narrative.
Are the other (adult/longer) books not as good?
Aimee.
Minor but fairly general/cryptic spoilers:
I liked that it was so *real* - her having to manage running the
household, to deal with her chauvanist cousin and her sisters and
everything else spiralling out of control, etc.
I loved most the historical Eastern-European setting. Also the
interweaving of Transylvanian folklore/the fairy kingdom - the feel
of it was very much fairytale realism, hence the similarities to
Robin McKinley, though it was darker and stranger than RMK because of
the cultural setting. And I did like the characters.
Kathleen remarked that Marillier almost did with Tadeus what
Pratchett did with Vlad, and I do think it would have been
interesting to have investigated him a bit more. I can see why she
didn't really need to though.
Plus, it was so *very* pretty!
Oh! and the teeny twist at the end of Tati's story!
At 09:21 PM 23/08/2006, Aimee Smith wrote:
> Yay! I love fairytales and retellings!
> My three favourite fairytales have always been Beauty and the Beast,
> The Wild Swans, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses. In no particular
> order.
> My Mum's old book of Andersen's fairy tales has eleven brothers, a
> sleeveless nettle shirt, and the king being deceived by jealous
> people in the palace.
> I prefer the Beast as a Beast but am glad he turns into a prince,
> because otherwise the marriage issue just gets problematical in my
> head.
> Did anyone else read Juliet Mariller's Twelve Dancing Princesses
> retelling 'Wildwood Dancing'? I read it recently, loved it (though,
> truth, it might have been better in some ways), reminded me strongly
> of McKinley and it's the only Marillier's I've read. Would like to
> discuss.
>